Truck Driving Jobs

Hoodlumcorp · Joined: 08 May 2008 Posts: 2

hey guys, i just got out of trucking school but my age is getting in the way of my new career. im 21 years old and a lot of companys require you to be 23+ and experience. i do think schneider, werner(heard bad things about them tho), and conway/cfi would take me but i'd like some more opinions. i would also like to be home every week or close to that. i know everyone has their own views on companys but i'm sure you guys can still point me in the right direction.

oh and one more thing. my current job is laying me off june 15 w/ severance pay. so it would be stupid for me to quit now. but that means i will have a month of no truck driving experience. will that affect a company hiring me...do i have to do the training all over again?

Uturn2001 · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 5:33 pm Post subject:

At 21 you are not going to be able to afford to be overly picky when it comes to that first job. As you are finding out there are not many companies willing to hire someone under 23-25 y/o, and the whole truth is that until you get a few more years of life under you the age thing is going to be an issue no matter how much experience you get.

The answer to your question about being out of school....etc is yes. After 30 days passes from the time you "graduate" the fewer companies will hire a student. In other words, your most options for employment will be in the 1st 30 days and then they will start dwindling.

TomB985 · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 171 Location: Columbus, OH

It also depends on where you are...

Where do you live?

dle · Joined: 03 Jan 2005 Posts: 706 Location: Texas

You'll hear bad things about most everybody.

Being 21 your options are not very plenty. Being home every week :shock: Good Luck.

How close are you to your birthday?

According to the company listings here on Class A These companies accept 21 year olds:
Arrow Trucking
C.R. England
CRST Van Expedited
FFE
KLLM
May Trucking Company
Millis Transfer
Schnieder
Trans Am
USF Glen More

June 15th is not that far away. Get your applications out, Get your pre-hires in.

Unless you are willing to cough up some extra money for the refresher course that you may be required to take -- is that how you want to spend that severence pay?
If your severance is going to be big enough to pay for:
a refresher course (when i priced them they ranged from $400 to $2k)
live on
tie you over until your paychecks start coming in
then by all means wait.

Otherwise, in a layoff situation you have to look at your own long and short term needs.

all18wheels · Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Posts: 155 Location: sacramento

yeah, get started now. i had some issues with the grad date being far from my application date. CFI was one of them.

get the app started now and let them know you cant start til june 15
you should be fine. i think CFI was 45 or 60 days from grad to hire time required.

Hoodlumcorp · Joined: 08 May 2008 Posts: 2

TomB985 wrote: It also depends on where you are...

Where do you live?

Virginia Beach, Virginia. Home of the small waves haha.

dle wrote: You'll hear bad things about most everybody.

Being 21 your options are not very plenty. Being home every week Good Luck.

How close are you to your birthday?

According to the company listings here on Class A These companies accept 21 year olds:
Arrow Trucking
C.R. England
CRST Van Expedited
FFE
KLLM
May Trucking Company
Millis Transfer
Schnieder
Trans Am
USF Glen More

June 15th is not that far away. Get your applications out, Get your pre-hires in.

Unless you are willing to cough up some extra money for the refresher course that you may be required to take -- is that how you want to spend that severence pay?
If your severance is going to be big enough to pay for:
a refresher course (when i priced them they ranged from $400 to $2k)
live on
tie you over until your paychecks start coming in
then by all means wait.

Otherwise, in a layoff situation you have to look at your own long and short term needs.

-April 16th was my birthday
-Thanks for the list of companys. I'm going to look those guys up and see what they offer
-My school just told me I could come in whenever I want to refresh my driving skills
-severance pay will pay off school and the rest is play money :)

all18wheels wrote: yeah, get started now. i had some issues with the grad date being far from my application date. CFI was one of them.

get the app started now and let them know you cant start til june 15
you should be fine. i think CFI was 45 or 60 days from grad to hire time required.

Good to hear from someone in the same situation as me (hope it all worked out for you tho). thanks for the advice!

GMAN · Joined: 13 Feb 2005 Posts: 9128 Location: Tennessee

It can take time to get through the application process. The sooner you get started, the better. It may be difficult with no experience to get home every weekend. There are a few who can, but if this is something you really want to do, then be prepared to pay some dues. Most companies seem to start inexperienced drivers out by keeping them out from 2-3 weeks at a time. If home time is important to you then I would find out about that first. At your age and without experience you are not in a strong bargaining position. If you are persistent you will find a company.

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